Project "Gravel Pit", a Universal(kaiser) Cj3B Built

This is a discussion on Project "Gravel Pit", a Universal(kaiser) Cj3B Built within 4x4 Vehicles, part of the 4x4 & Off-Roading category; Hi guys,
I'am sorry to all those who had been trying to get in touch with me lately for not ...

Hi guys,
I'am sorry to all those who had been trying to get in touch with me lately for not answers calls or mails. It's not been the best of times for me and recently the problems four-folded when i lost 3 very good friends to a road accident. Anyways, life has to go on and i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

If some of you'll remember, i was lately talking about giving away one of my jeeps to fund the Jonga project. Well, the project is about to start so i thought i've give away the specs here. Though the project is going to be a bit expensive, my ultimate aim is not to make much profit as its just my hobby, but making a good quality jeep. It would be mostly all that i like in a jeep, and that has the military look and is a Hardcore utilitarian. The specs are as given:-

While the mechanicals are going to be as modern and reliable as possible, the outer look is still going to be as aesthetically military as possible, with the same seats, steering wheel,hood, etc. Will also include a:-
RCL windscreen
All possible military acc, like axe,spade,pick-axe,map-reading lights,gunrack,folding water buckets,water bags,Gallon cans,jerry cans,trailer light sockets, blactout lights incl. taillights etc,etc that i've collected over the yrs.
Entire jeep done up up a good quality zinc primer, etch primer, rubber based moister sealent, and matt finished paint.

If i remember any thing else then i'll add it later on, and anybody would like to suggest anything please do not hesitate to do so.

Hi guys,
I'am sorry to all those who had been trying to get in touch with me lately for not answers calls or mails. It's not been the best of times for me and recently the problems four-folded when i lost 3 very good friends to a road accident. Anyways, life has to go on and i'm keeping my fingers crossed.

If some of you'll remember, i was lately talking about giving away one of my jeeps to fund the Jonga project. Well, the project is about to start so i thought i've give away the specs here. Though the project is going to be a bit expensive, my ultimate aim is not to make much profit as its just my hobby, but making a good quality jeep. It would be mostly all that i like in a jeep, and that has the military look and is a Hardcore utilitarian. The specs are as given:-

While the mechanicals are going to be as modern and reliable as possible, the outer look is still going to be as aesthetically military as possible, with the same seats, steering wheel,hood, etc. Will also include a:-
RCL windscreen
All possible military acc, like axe,spade,pick-axe,map-reading lights,gunrack,folding water buckets,water bags,Gallon cans,jerry cans,trailer light sockets, blactout lights incl. taillights etc,etc that i've collected over the yrs.
Entire jeep done up up a good quality zinc primer, etch primer, rubber based moister sealent, and matt finished paint.

If i remember any thing else then i'll add it later on, and anybody would like to suggest anything please do not hesitate to do so.

Regards,
Bikram

Hi Bikram,

The show must go on!!!! Great news from a great man itself. Will be a grand vehicle with all those specs and build by a genius himself!!! All the best and pics pls....

The reason i'm going in for a twin stick xfercase is that i intend to modd it to engage low range in 4x2 itself(which will make an easier job of turning while offroading and still not losing power and the speed too still remains in control), which the single stick xfercase cannot be modded to.

I'm sorry i cannot post the pictures for another 3-4 days as the jeep's still not here yet, and i have to arrange a camera too.
The project would'nt take too long since i've collected most of the things, nor is it he first time i'm building a jeep so i know where to fetch the rest of the things from. At the most it would take a month or so.

Now for the motor. Well, i think Mahindra tried desperately to lighten the original Inter motor(there is one more derivation that is very close to the Scorpio motor, and that is used in the Mahindra Trucks, the one that originally were Nissan Cabstar's), and in the process they made the engine block so thin that incase of almost all scorpio accidents, the block breaks and develops a long crack big hole in it. Now all the motors available in the market are either off accidental vehicles or thefts, so you can count on your chances of finding one. How did i manage to find it? Well, the story is like this:
2 weeks ago, i started my Enfield at 05:00 hours in the morning and left for Meerut, looking for the motor. Since i had planned to come back the same day, i did'nt take any clothes along(my wrong). Theres this guy in the Kabardi market who keeps the Mahindra motors, and he had a Scorpio motor too. 40 Grands did'nt sound too bad until i found out it had a hole on its side. Accidental, i thought, so i left it alone.Since there was nobody else in particular over there that kept Mahindra motors, so i left for Delhi the same day.
I had no idea how bad the roads from Meerut to Dehli were. That 65kms of stretch is overladen with traffic and its one of the worst roads i've ever seen. In that stop and go traffic, it took me 5 hours to complete the journey, and the poor bike lost its clutch plates in the process. So as soon as i landed up in Delhi i went over to KarolBagh and got the bike fixed and then moved on to Mayapuri, but i was out of luck. I ended up reaching too late and everyone was closing their shops. Well, i had to stay over night in Delhi, and despite being through a long journey, spent some more time washing the only set of(now fully blackened due to the the dust and diesel truck smoke)clothes i bought along,lol.
Next day i went over to mayapuri again, and did infact find a Scorpio motor, but it was a total banana too. So i had to return empty handed.

But how do i still have a scorpio motor? In Sri Ganganagar,Rajasthan, there's this Mahindra Auth. Parts dealer who told me of his contacts with a few Insurance companies, and i had asked him to lookout for a Scorpio motor. At the time he had plenty of Mahindra DI motors but not a Scorpio one. But almost a day ago, i recieved a call from him and he told me he's found the motor. And whats more, it was a spare scorpio motor bought and kept by the Auth dealers in Rajasthan( i think it was Jaipur), the only one they had, and since it is now a discontinued motor, they were giving it away and i could very well have it for cheap. Also it was the very same motor i was looking for, that is the earlier one of the mechanical injected motors, the one that had a timing gear set instead of chain. Although its a little bit noiser than the ones that used the timing chain, the gear driven ones are more reliable and last longer. The problem is that its not exactly a new motor, as same ultra smart employee thought that since they would'nt be able to sell the motor anymore as everyone looking for a new motor for their scorpio would go in for the later motors, he could as well use it to run the service center generator. This thing cost me 90 grands, which i think is not bad for a for a slightly run motor(1 month, that too when the power went out), that to without much load.
The only problem is that unlike the other motors, it has the same problem as the tractor motor its based on, and that is the power steering pump is not run by a Belt, but rather the timing gears. I don't know how the later models that had the timing chain run the pump, but in this motor there is an empty hole where there should be a pump. Now either i could make an adaptor for it, or since i already bought a power steering, i could buy the pump that is used in the Mahindra tractors in the same place to power tractor impliments and the rear lift, and use that to power the steering system. And since its a larger pump, the steering is going to be more powerful too.
Another thing is that when Mahindra started using the New generation Transmissions, they made the flywheels smaller than the ones used on the Inter or older Di's(this one is Peugeot size), and with a smaller clutch housing and with the starter facing the transmission and fitted on the bellhousing itself, not towards the engine as it normally is. Now i'll have to make an adaptor with the starter facing the engine side, and infact find a starter that matches the flywheel since the scopio one, if fitted on this side will be running in the opposite direction of what its supposed to. Or i'll have to find another flywheel that fits and has the starter on this side(somehow i think i can match the peugeot flywheel to it).

Bigman, pal you are most welcome to come over. I think you already have my phone no. If not its 09815088567. I'll send you an email sometime soon.

Water buckets- they are army spec small canvas buckets, that can fold down when not needed. The Indian ones are although a different, were the same shape and size as used on WW2 jeeps.

Water Bags- actually i don't know the correct name for it. These bags were used to collect drinking water back in the days when the primary transport were Horses and Camels. The Army spec ones are made of some kind of Porous Canvas(instead of the earlier animal bladder) through which a small amount of water leaks, the purpose of which is that the leaked water will evaporate taking up the heat from the water inside the bag, leaving you with cool drinking water inside the bag, just like what happens when you put water in a baked mud pot.

A jerry can is the usual 20lts fuel can, whereas the Gallon is a 5lts engine oil can. The Military CJ3B used to have this sort of a cage on one side of it (to the forward of the tub, right behind the front fender) for this purpose although the original Gallons are very hard to find. They look just like any 5lts insectiside tin can, but the original ones had a better,stronger screw-on cap that did'nt break so easily. Nowadays the usual gallons that are used are the ones that are used to carry Turbine oil for Military Aircraft and then disposed off when empty.

Hi Brutus,
Sorry to hear about your friends. I know how it feels like as the same happened to me also.
Interesting to know about your project. Are you getting the Jonga from Calcutta?
Best of luck...Saikat